Kudos Gillette for Raising Awareness of Toxic Masculinity

If you’ve seen the Gillette commercial addressing
toxic masculinity, chances are you have an opinion about it. The ad takes a new
spin on the decades old Gillette slogan, asking “Is this the best a man can
get?” while showing news clips and dramatizations of bullying, sexual
harassment, and violence and referencing the #MeToo movement. Some are
outraged, claiming we shouldn’t highlight bad behavior, or “beat men up” over
transgressions, but rather move on and focus on the good that men do. That is a
valid point but there is another point to be made amongst the controversy. What
if we acknowledge how toxic male behavior can be? (Female behavior can be toxic
too, but that’s not what the ad is talking about.)

What if we step back and look at this particular ad
for what it is – honest. Toxic behavior has an impact on all of those subjected
to it. Toxic behavior only changes when we acknowledge it. The men in this ad
come from a place of reality, and strive to make a change for the next
generation of men. What I saw in this ad was men encouraging other men to do
better, to be better, to rise up and be the best version of what a man can be.
I saw men showing boys how and what being a good man, a best man looks like.
Leading by example is the best way to generate change for the good, for the
better, for the best in all of us, not just men.

This Gillette campaign is igniting conversations that
we might not have had without it. It’s only when we talk about problems and
shine a light on them that we can stem the tide on it. We can be better men and
better women by being better human beings. Kudos Gillette and thank you!

Laura Fogarty is an authorized facilitator for Darkness to Light, and writes “Ask Lala” for the Stop Abuse Campaign. She is a mother, an advocate and the author of two children’s abuse prevention books – I’m the Boss of Me! and We Are Just Alike! and the novel, Painted Blue. As a survivor of child sexual abuse, she is dedicated to raising awareness about the culture of abuse in order to prevent it. Laura resides on the Carolina seashore, living each day in the light.

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